Search - United Nations :: United Nations

Have your face melted by the hot blade of a chainsaw

Will Mccorry | Chicago, IL United States | 09/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album, a collective project from Geoff Rickly (Thursday), Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw, Head Automatica), Ben Koller (Converge), and members from other bands like the Number 12 Looks Like You, will have your ears bleeding at the bittersweet cacaphony in about one minute flat.



Scenesters beware! It is both cool to love this band for its throwback to the true screamo roots of the mid 90's, and to hate this band for being such a predictably "anti-scene" album from your favorite faggy jean wearing counter-culture popstars. You should immediately proceed on to the new Norma Jean album if you "don't get it" or find yourself feeling "so over it" or saying to yourself "soooo 10 years ago."



This album pulls very few if any punches. The overwhelming presence of dual guitar riffing harkens back to hardcore's punk roots, and the drumming is as brutal as a machine gun enema. The bass is expectedly grungy and serves merely to beefen up the bottom end.



Songs such as "The Shape of Punk that Never Came," "Revolution #9" and "Subliminal Testing" deliver an aural barrage akin to the b*stard child of Jane-Doe-era Converge and Thursday's least cohesive or melodic moments to date. Any old-school glassjaw fan who's been dying to hear Daryl's return to vocal form will undoubtedly be pleased with the thrashy screaming splattered all over this cd, like Tom Savini's blood in a slasher film.



The album is balanced out by a few breaks from form with strong tracks like "Filmed in front of a Live Studio Audience" and the closer, "Say Goodbye to General Figment of the USS Imagination," a dirge that showcases the diversely individual talents that have come together on this release. It doesn't hurt that the extended saxophone solo is remniscient of genre heavyweights Candiria or Yakuza, as it surely impresses upon the listener a sense of calm after the storm--even if that calm is eerily similar to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."

Yes.

inmemoryofthom | 09/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So I just received the limited edition artwork version in the mail today, I just finished listing to it for the 2nd time and I'm about to start the third spin. This rarely ever happens with me. I was drawn in at first because it was supposed to be all these guys from other bands doing a "real" screamo album. Seeing that Geoff always name drops the band You and I any chance he can, I knew it would be good. But forget about the whole super group thing, I don't even feel like I'm listening to something that is a gimmick, if this album came out ten years ago when I was listening mostly to screamo I'm sure this would be defining album of my life. This is seriously f**king amazing."